Most research strategies for cartilage tissue engineering use extended culture with complex media loaded with costly GFs (growth factors) to drive tissue assembly and yet they result in the production of cartilage with inferior mechanical and structural properties compared with the natural tissue. Recent evidence suggests that GAGs (glycosaminoglycans) incorporated into tissue engineering scaffolds can sequester and/or activate GFs and thereby more effectively mimic the natural ECM (extracellular matrix). Such approaches may have potential for the improvement of cartilage engineering. However, natural GAGs are structurally complex and heterogeneous, making structure–function relationships hard to determine and clinical translation difficult. Importantly, subfractions of GAGs with specific chain lengths and sulfation patterns have been shown to activate key signalling processes during stem cell differentiation. In addition, recently, GAGs have been bound to synthetic biomaterials, such as electrospun scaffolds and hydrogels, in biologically active conformations, and methods to purify and select affinity-matched GAGs for specific GFs have also been developed. The identification and use of specific GAG moieties to promote chondrogenesis is therefore an exciting new avenue of research. Combining these with synthetic biomaterials may allow a more effective mimicry of the natural ECM, reduction in the need for expensive GFs, and perhaps the deposition of an articular cartilage-like matrix in a clinically relevant manner.
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June 2014
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Conference Article|
May 22 2014
New strategies for cartilage regeneration exploiting selected glycosaminoglycans to enhance cell fate determination
Bethanie I. Ayerst;
Bethanie I. Ayerst
*Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell–Matrix Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, Michael Smith Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K.
†Glycotherapeutics Group, Institute of Medical Biology, A*STAR, 8A Biomedical Grove, #06-06 Immunos, Singapore 138648, Singapore
‡Stem Cell Glycobiology Group, School of Materials, University of Manchester, Grosvenor Street, Manchester M1 7HS, U.K.
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Anthony J. Day;
Anthony J. Day
*Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell–Matrix Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, Michael Smith Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K.
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Victor Nurcombe;
Victor Nurcombe
†Glycotherapeutics Group, Institute of Medical Biology, A*STAR, 8A Biomedical Grove, #06-06 Immunos, Singapore 138648, Singapore
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Simon M. Cool;
Simon M. Cool
†Glycotherapeutics Group, Institute of Medical Biology, A*STAR, 8A Biomedical Grove, #06-06 Immunos, Singapore 138648, Singapore
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Catherine L.R. Merry
Catherine L.R. Merry
1
‡Stem Cell Glycobiology Group, School of Materials, University of Manchester, Grosvenor Street, Manchester M1 7HS, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email[email protected]).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
March 28 2014
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2014 Biochemical Society
2014
Biochem Soc Trans (2014) 42 (3): 703–709.
Article history
Received:
March 28 2014
Citation
Bethanie I. Ayerst, Anthony J. Day, Victor Nurcombe, Simon M. Cool, Catherine L.R. Merry; New strategies for cartilage regeneration exploiting selected glycosaminoglycans to enhance cell fate determination. Biochem Soc Trans 1 June 2014; 42 (3): 703–709. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20140031
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